It was a hard time for David to make his ideas a reality. And it is even harder to keep up with all the stuff he is working on. We certainly had to speed up a little in order to follow what he is doing. He was really calm and it actually seamed like he is doing his work for a really long time.
This time we caught David Azzato in his office in Zürich working on new ideas for a chess gaming portal that is currently number one in the Google Play store. “Do you play chess?” we asked and he replied: “Yes, a lot. I love chess and I play it with my coworkers every day.”

The chess fanatics

“Why chess?” – “Well, it’s not only chess it’s passion and logic. And chess is not the only thing we are working on, we are actually developing something new coming soon.” David Azzato answered. After that he offered us coffee and some snacks. “You really have a great atmosphere here, how do you manage to keep it so calm?” – “I don’t try, that’s how. I choose my colleagues really carefully and they are those who do this working space feel like this.” “How is that? What are the criteria to start working for you? What does the choosing process look like?” – “I don’t consider my colleagues are working for me, but more with me. All of us are a big family and we all support one another. Well, the criteria are simple, you need to be a chess fanatic, or at least love it and to fit into the team. The choosing process is not much of a process. We call the candidates we think would fit into our team and give them a chance to prove it. Everyone must beat me at chess, but to be honest I usually let them win if I see they are the right ones. Would you play a game with me?”

Can I defeat him?

“Yes, I would love to.” and we started the game. “Was it your idea to start this chess platform or someone else?” It was my third move and I took one of his rooks and two pawns already, but I did not feel like winning at all. “It was my team’s idea. We came up with it while chilling and playing chess. The programming was the hardest part in this case, because we wanted something new and more interesting.” He won. “I knew you were good, but not this good.” – “Well I had a lot of training, and it’s my job. Next time you will win, I’m sure.”, he smiled.
After a few more questions about the way he manages to be a part of everything he and his team does, we had to leave. I will certainly play more chess so that I will win the next time, if I ever have a chance again to play chess with David Azzato.